February is Active Classrooms month! PowerUp is proud to partner with ActiveSchools US to promote getting active in the classroom - whether that’s before, during, or after the school day!
Classroom physical activity helps students feel better, work together as a team, reduce anxiety, and maintain focus all while helping them learn and retain academic content. In addition, movement can be a great classroom management tool for teachers and afterschool providers by energizing tired or distracted students and helping students connect with academic content in a unique way!
While all PowerUp exercises and games are great for any space, any place, we’ve picked a few of our classroom favorites! Give these games a try to boost bodies and brains inside the classroom!
PowerUp Fitness offers evidence based-physical activity programs for before & afterschool, PE, summer camps and more! PowerUp programs are designed to provide children with the opportunity to become more active, physically and mentally. Use our bundle finder to find the best PowerUp bundle for your organization.
Desk Dash
Prep: Students will remain seated in chairs. Scoot chair out from under desk if needed to ensure that students can move legs up and down to mimic running, but in a seated position.
To play: On “go”, students pretend to run while in seated position (racing in place). After a few seconds, teacher/instructor calls out a math problem, for example, 17 minus 10. Students should mentally solve the problem. Once they know the correct answer, students stop racing and use their hands to indicate the answer, for example holding up 7 fingers. Once everyone in the class has stopped racing and has the correct answer, start again, solving a new problem.
Optional: To include problems with an answer larger than 10, provide one dry-erase board per student. Students display their answers on dry-erase board. Alternatively, create number flash cards. Each student makes two sets of flash cards with numbers 0 through 9, each card displays a single digit, i.e. 8. To answer double-digit math problems, for example, 17 plus 10, students hold up a 2 and a 7 to indicate 27.
Small Space Relay Race
Prep: Students will do jumping jacks beside their desks. Ensure students have enough space to avoid touching others. Separate participants into teams. Each team should designate team member order, deciding who will go first, second, third, etc.
To play: Teacher/Instructor calls out a spelling word. On “go”, the first participant from each team will perform five jumping jacks, then calls out the first letter of the spelling word. After the first team member calls the correct letter, the second team member begins their five jumping jacks and then calls the next letter of the word. Next, the third team member begins. Team members continue taking turns in predetermined order until the entire word has been spelled correctly. Team members sit down to show that their team is done. First team seated wins! Play several rounds through multiple spelling words. Keep score if desired.
Did you enjoy these activities? For 100’s of activities, games, and exercises aligned with academics shop our PowerUp programs!
Download the printable pdf version of PowerUp's Active Classrooms below.
PowerUp Fitness is an Advocate Member of the National Afterschool Association and a proud partner of Active Schools.